Think Pink!

My skills in baking developed tremendously in just few months, about two weeks ago (fifth of May) it was my young sister’s birthday, we don’t usually do something during birthdays but since I had the skills and spirit I decided I’d make the cake myself. My sister, I mean all young girls just love the color pink so I decided to make the whole cake pink inside and out. It was strawberry cake filled with strawberry filling and covered with white chocolate buttercream.

The decorating wasn’t perfect, because the consistency of the buttercream was a bit runny. I had no idea what I did but let me tell you this, the flavor of it was so enchanting, didn’t want to ruin it by adding more sugar to thicken it out. 

Amusez-vous 

Éclairs

 

 Just knowing that this could be the first summer to spend here home it makes me feel weird, I have no idea what sort of activities I'll be doing. The good part is, I'll have the time in the world to cook and bake. 

One early morning, I decided to make éclairs for a friend of mine because the day before the girls and I went out for lunch at the Chinese bristo but she decided to buy something sweet and she bought eclairs from Paul,

coincidentally I was planning to make some during the weekend. 

The secret behind éclairs is that the Pâte Choux or Cream Puff Pastry should be dry inside, drying it out properly will allow the filling to enter the dough and moisten it without making it soggy. You have hundreds of choices when it comes to filling them, you can fill it with whatever you want. I filled mine with creme légère. Éclairs are best eaten the same day

Chocolate Chocolate x2

 

The best part about these cookies, that they last really long. They are dry and melt in just few seconds. The biggest mistake was, I didn't double the quantity. Having this piece of heaven with a cup of cold milk and a book to read, the ultimate comfort.

The good thing about this recipe its not too sweet, doesn't contain a lot of sugar. Perfectly balanced with the bittersweet chocolate.

Double Dark Chocolate Shortbread
(makes about 12-14 cookies, double the recipe if you want to) 


1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

• Put the flour, sugar, and cocoa powder in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine well.
• Drop in the butter and vanilla and pulse until the mixture just comes together. 
• Stir in the chocolate chips and turn the dough out onto a board and form into an 8" log. 
• Wrap it in waxed or parchment paper and twist both ends to secure.  Refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.  You can also freeze the dough for later use.
• Slice the log into 1/2" slices with a sharp knife.
• Put on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven at 325 for 12 to 15 minutes.  They will feel slightly soft, don't over bake them.
• Cool for a few minutes on the pan and then transfer to a rack.
• If you're going to give them away make sure they are completely cool before you package them.

A box of it? I win

Shaikha xx,

French breakfast [Croissant]

My love for croissant has no limits, it my favorite breakfast, snack, sometimes dinner and lunch. In other words, all day. I was thinking of croissants all week, until the weekend. Making croissants may take up to 12 hours & the day I start making my croissant, my father decided we should go for a mini-trip which made the dough rest more than it should be, when I came back home the dough was sticky, when I started to knead the dough, it came back into a soft ball. I spread the butter did all the steps, and while I was rolling I noticed the butter was coming out of the dough, I tried to be delicate and when I finished cutting and rolling the croissant, the dough didn't rise and decided to bake them, they turned really awful, the butter oozed out and it was just a dry dough witch soaked up all the butter.

 I gave it a second shot, and this time I was patient, didn't want to rush the process of making it, and it took me 2 days, because I left the dough in the fridge over night, so I could focus and be careful, and let me tell you, as soon as those croissant came out of the oven, I celebrated and the whole family got excited and happy.

I used Julia Child's recipe, it was a success. I can't wait to give it another shot.

I would love to post the recipe, but the internet made it easy. I'll post few pictures on the steps how to make croissant.

These are 2 pages of several on how to make croissant from Julia Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"

 FULL RECIPE [Mastering the Art of French Cooking]

Those flaky, hearty, french croissant. Soft from the inside, crunchy and flaky from the outside, just the way it is.


Shaikha xx

اشتياق دائم

There will be no end for a struggle, as long as you breathe. Am I right? 

This is the only statement I have in mind for so long now.  It’s true.

My passion and love for cooking will never fade away, but I don’t recognize what’s going on lately.  I lost about 6 to 10 kilos. I found my way out of this cage, not freedom, nor will I ever think of freedom. I found a way where I can demolish everything, I forever will be thankful, that my attention now is dragged to Arabic literature. This made me remember my most glorious country I fell in love with, I fell in love with the people and everything about it, its Tunisia my love for this country is endless, the blue doors are everywhere in this country ♥

I’m glad that it was meant to happen, the only way to get over my grief, is to remember the beautiful days, and this is one of the best.

During my early life, I never appreciated Arabic literature, I was content with English but I was wrong, completely wrong. I questioned lately why don’t I have the rush and desire to read book as I use to? I couldn’t figure it out until I decided to go to a public area and ignore the whole world and just focus on my book, and it worked! I am amused and inspired to read when I’m in a public place, the place I chose to read was at a special place, it reminds of someone who use to be, wait, who will always be special. 

 الحياة الطيبة هي استقرار النفس

 

 ولكن اتهم المشاعر التي لا ترحم

And once an Emirati writer said Yasser Harib (من علامات الحُب أن نظل في اشتياق دائم لمن نحب )

It goes to everybody.

Shaikha xx

14C*

Hopes fade away & reborn again, but sometimes they just fade away for good. In my case lets say I'm just thankful to be alive. Lu lac d'Annecy this place will forever remain special, forever. I took this picture before the sun was gone, this is almost the end of the lake. On this very spot I swam with my father, we had a bet that day. The lake was so cold I didn't feel my legs the first 15 minutes, the fact the water was so sweet I didn't mind sipping one or two by mistake. I remember the next morning leaving Annecy very early so we could go to Paris, the mist and steam coming out of the lake early in the morning was amazing.

Its cold, all year long, day and night, but the sun never fails to comfort.

There would be more posts about cooking, though lately I'm not getting anywhere with my culinary life. Lets just hope things get better. Without dream ofcourse, but at least, lets just do something ..



Shaikha xx

What will the future hold?

Everything started in the late 1990's, when the whole family went to Egypt. I was young, really young and had no knowledge why or when and why I was there, all I remember is I was playing with a bunch of petite humble girls in the middle of the dessert. They were herding a flock of sheep's and I merged them, those memories were concealed somewhere in my head over the years. 4 years or 5+ years ago we went back there to that dynasty which I have no images left in my head. I wasn't thrilled about it, I still remember the hours I spent in the car, my feet felt like they were on fire! The flooring of the car had a hole and the car was speeding, the back seat floor temperature was high and I tried to lift my feet up to cool them down.
As soon as we reached the house, after a 4 hour flight + 4 hours of driving + 30 minutes until we reached the house. It was after mid-night around 1:00 AM. When I saw the door, everything burst out of my head and I regret being here, for some reason I had a feeling I wouldn’t be satisfied.
That night I slept on my bed which is jam-packed with sand and dust, I felt deprived, I felt as if I was plucked out of my world. I woke up the following morning looking out of the window and saw women herding, kids carrying water in torn gasoline bottles, and men walking up the hills and then at that precise moment I remembered everything, the day I met those people, the day I played with them. It's like I had amnesia or something.

An Emirati girl why would she be there? Let me answer you, it was in the late 70 and 80's when my dad is obsessed with falcons, he crossed the world for those birds. I still remember the day he told me when he stole falcons from China and got away with it. I saw the photo's when he was in Frankfurt with David holding those treasurable creatures. My dad was passionate, he crossed  the Middle-East, Africa, and Asia for falcons. He went to Sena with my Grandpa and Saif emleeh, they came across the people who lived in the Sahara of Sena, the people who until this very day still live the same way they did 100 years ago. Years later my dad bought a property nearby a tribe and built a house on the side, on the highest dune in the area.

Hello and welcome to our house, as you can see there are no shops around us the only brick build base beside us was an abandoned school which was an unfortunate attempt in educating Bedouins in Sena. Let’s look at the superior picture and pinpoint our exact location on this earth, the nearest town is around half-hour drive and 1 hour drive to Israel.

Every night for the past 2 months I've been hearing the sound of missiles and explosive, it didn’t feel right. I imagined this where my life would end, they would hit us any day. The sensation was unreal. I even thought if i spoke to my friends about it would they ever believe me?
The reason is, nobody would be around such tough zones, well let’s outlook it differently, would anyone be interested in visiting those places? My answer to that is we were there because new crops were deported from Spain to Egypt for plantation.

Throughout the period my dad started to buy grounds near the farm and expanded it. So most of the time we were left home alone in the internal of the dessert, all I did is read books and sit on top of the dunes, those volcanic sand dunes. I ended up walking around the dessert, I met some familiar girls, they remember me so well and I can barely recall them. Talking to them was an inspirational moment, the purest minds you will ever find, they know nothing about the contemporary female fashion world or about sex or about edifice your guru happy life. Can you imagine how peaceful is that?

 The only problem I faced is those little evil creatures that bite! These live on sheep's and camels. I think he accomplished his goal drawing “the last supper “on my body. I was itching day and night.

Pure evil.

Well, one day my dad decided we should visit (Shaikh Ziwayd) famous Wednesday market, when we went there, all we did is buy veggies, eggs and poultry. 10 minutes later we were in Rafah, yes, never in a million years I thought I'd be there, but somehow destiny dropped me there. I saw dreadful matter which I don't want to evoke, I saw those unfortunate people standing on the roof across the borders, Palestinian, yes, palestinian.

I didn't want to recollect this stage of my life, because that wasn't my life, I can't live like that, I just felt immoral being among those people, wait, don't get me wrong, I meant I felt as if I was trying to elitist on those people, no haram I would never do that. I'm used to dress in decent clothes and wear makeup every day.  In my simplicity those people look at it as if I'm a monarch. Those societies know nothing about the outer world, can you visualize if they went to America? They'd consider you Aliens, I speculate, ya they would probably think that way. 

but I'm fortunate , a seed of such experience was grown in me, this made me appreciate life, appreciate god, appreciate people, humanity, life as a whole. I've been to a place called "Zaraneek" it is where salt is produced, before we went there we passed by a house across the street and I saw a man, a man that I not once thought I'd see in my entire life 'Salaam'. When I saw him I had flashbacks of the past, this man was the gentleman I played with when I was a kid, this man worked for my father, and he was looking after the camels in the manor. Oh dear 'Salam' I missed him, I never knew he was Egyptian. However, the Zaraneek was a snow-like field, it was filled with salt. The endless piles of salt, before this visit I remembered when my brother and sister tried to walk in these salt pools which didn’t dry yet, they said it felt like knifes. I wanted to dip my feet inside them, but it was so red and looked like blood, I chickened out and just meditate god’s creation.

The Zaraneek was an interesting story my dad told us, I envy my father, he is such a great man, I believed one day I will get my husband and children to these area and just share my experience, my dad and grandpa's adventure. At least I did something different in my life. Every time these images arise into my mind, all I could think of is this phrase "الحمد لله الذي فضلنا على كثير من عباده" 


 

Shaikha x